


Beyond the Realm of Shadows

by TwinkleHeartFudge



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: BAMF Akira, BAMF Lavenza, Gen, I WRITE WHAT I WANT, M/M, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, Some suicidal thoughts, akechi lives yay, akechi redemption, but Akira's the main character?, but he's so chill, but not really, confused!souji, elizabeth trying to free minato, flustered!Akechi, idk if she'll succeed, let's do this, maybe only minor appearances for p4 cast, mostly canon, p3 centric, persona fusioooon, she prolly will, we're in for a long ride, well., whatever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-23
Packaged: 2018-11-03 06:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10961799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinkleHeartFudge/pseuds/TwinkleHeartFudge
Summary: Elizabeth is desperate. Mitsuru is weighed down by guilt and grief. Junpei is passively suicidal. Akihiko tries to make everything better. So does Yukari. And Minato isn't really dead. Or alive for that matter.Akira meddles, falls deeper in love, trips face first into the pavement and life goes on.(In which almost everyone but the P3 cast is happy, so imma fix that.)





	1. In Which the Story Begins

There was an echoing sound of a song that has long been forgotten, a song, a sweet poisonous melody sweeping through Akira’s head. There was also the familiar sensation of falling, of seeing a soft, and grim matte blue that Akira hasn’t seen in two years. Akira opens his eyes, met with a familiar dank ceiling and clothes that he never thought he’d wear again. He sits up, then stands unhurriedly, red gloves stark in the monochromatic color scheme of the Velvet Room. Yet the domino mask he’s come to be comfortable in was gone. He doesn’t know if that means anything, and he feels the familiar murmuring of Arsene who was sometimes Satanael at the back of his mind.

Akira never told anyone, but even after his access to the Velvet Room had been retracted, the feeling of his last few persona were still within him. He’d thought at first, that it was just a phantom presence a feeling that had persisted even with their absence, but over time he’s come to the conclusion that he can still use the persona, if there is ever a situation he needed to. It both gave him reassurance and a small part of him worrying that they might need to fight again one day, to risk their lives again.

“Lavenza?”

There was no reply.

The door was open, as it had been as he’d left, the numerous types of execution equipment still littered the small hall. No one was inside, and the desk that Igor (or Yaldabaoth in disguise) had sat behind was also gone.

It looked like the Velvet Room that he’d left, except…

There, on the other side of the circular room was another open cell, the far end wall was slightly twisted, like the small pockets of distortion that they found in Mementos all those years ago.

Akira walks, slowly, hands ghosting through the gallows and the guillotines as he passed by them. He knows that the execution hurts. He had always felt that sharp pain in his chest whenever one of his Personas were sacrificed to strengthen another, or were fused to create a stronger one. Yet none of the guilt settles in his stomach. None of the apologies falling past his mouth. All his personas were him, different facets of him given form by whatever higher power decided it would be. He does not need to apologize to himself for something that he knows is the right decision.

He could have just stayed inside the Velvet Room, and slept again until he wakes up in his room as he usually did, but there was something in his gut that told him he needed to move and to see what lay beyond the door.

Akira steps through the distortion and is met with a small bit of resistance before the world around him falls apart at the seams, swirling in indefinite colors and dark hues that to someone else would have been nauseating, yet all Akira felt was nostalgia and remembrance.

When he opens his eyes again, it is to a white wall the brightness of it making his squint as he adjusted. Looking left and right, he was met with long, narrow hallways only around three meters wide but high enough that Akira could not see anything that extended far beyond his sight. There were doors, different doors of different origins and designs, but what they had in common was that all of them had the same shade of blue as the door that he’d come out of.

“Arsene? Do you have any idea where this is?” Akira asks inwardly. His Persona was usually more informed about these things than he was.

“ **I’m afraid that even I do not know what this place is.** ” Arsene says apologetically, though losing none of the power that his voice carried. “ **Although it feels almost exactly the same as the Velvet Room, there is an easier resonance in our bond than we do inside it.** ”

Akira just hummed and chose a direction to start walking.

The walls curved inward slightly, and Akira’s experiences in Places made him sure that it meant the hallway both to his left and right were the same hallway, and met in some large circle so it did not matter which direction he chooses, so he chooses left. It might divert into some other hallway somewhere, but he there is always the option to backtrack if he needs to.

So he walks.

There were large sky high doors, and doors small enough for only mice to fit in, some car doors, some normal doors, sometimes just archways with bricks blocking the entrance, but all of them shut tight, as Akira tries to open them. They didn’t even have any keyholes that he could pick. Akira counts how many doors had music flowing from them and so far he’s only counted twelve, and even when he tries to open them, or knock on them, they never open. He does not know for how long he walks, he does not have the right sense of time in this world, but he does not tire, nor does he get impatient. There must be a reason why he’s here.

He tries another door, this time a slightly stocky looking door that looks like it’s from the Early Middle Ages. It does not budge.

Akira sighs. He may not get impatient, but this is starting to become an exercise in futility.

He’s already a ways away from his own door, when he sees the next one ajar, the door unlit with a blue glow that the others had, dully grey and deadly silent.

“ **That door…** ” Arsene murmured. “ **Shall we see what lies beyond?** ”

Akira hummed, curious. He walks silently and opens the door, and in the center was a small hunched figure dressed in the colors of the Velvet Room.

“Lavenza? What are you doing—”

The figure stood abruptly, hand whipping outwards and a Ziodyne hurtled at him, a flutter of pages heralding the spell. Akira prompted Arsene for a fast Makarakarn and was readying an Eigaon when the figure spoke.

“Who goes there?” The voice boomed, and was slightly hoarse, as if trying to normalize itself after crying.

Akira swallowed as he felt the presence fully. It was like having to fight Justine and Caroline again, severely underequipped and underprepared.

“My name is Kurusu Akira.” Akira states, his voice calm, not betraying his caution and wariness.

The figure’s hands were still midair and the voice turned accusing, “You are not Minato-sama, yet you have a similar presence. Might you be… a guest of the Velvet Room?”

“Yes.” Akira confirms, the buildup of the spell still thrumming at the edges of his fingertips. “Or I was.”

“I see. Please forgive my rudeness.” The hands fell, and a sigh fell from the lady and she walked towards him, the light from the corridor giving more illumination to her. “My name is Elizabeth. An attendant of the Velvet Room. How may I help you?”

Her dress was the same blue as Lavenza’s and facial features mostly similar, but what made Akira stare was the heavy bags under her eyes and the tracks of tears staining her cheeks. Her dress was also frayed and burnt at the edges, and her hair a little wild, but her eyes were burning with an intensity that Akira hasn’t seen in Lavenza or her twin counterparts.

“I’m only a wanderer.” Akira starts. “And. I think you are the one that needs help.”

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed, hands hovering over her book. “You said you _were_ a guest of the Velvet Room. Explain.”

“Igor and Lavenza told me that my part in the ‘game’ had been over.” Akira shrugs. “And I couldn’t access the Velvet Room after that conversation. This is the first time in two years that I managed to enter.”

Elizabeth purses her lips, a faraway look in her eyes. “I understand.”

“ _Do_ you need help?” Akira inquires, and amends. “Do you _want_ help?”

“Everything I’ve tried so far has failed.” Elizabeth says slowly and hesitates. “I will think on your proposal.”

Akira smiles. “Of course.”

Akira feels the chains pulling him back, a dull throb in his head that tells him he should wake up. He ignores it  for now.

“How will I get here again?”

Elizabeth’s brow furrows. “Your time is running out. I will find a way to bring you back here again.”

“Is there anything I should know before we talk more?”

Elizabeth’s eyes blaze in determination. “Look for Arisato Minato. He is the answer to my problem.”

Akira nods, and stops resisting the pull of the chains.

Then there is black.

.

.

.

.

.

“I hope you find your answer, sister.” Lavenza smiles.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Akira wakes up, feeling as if the night had gone on longer than it should have, bits and pieces of an odd conversation floating to the forefront of his mind. He grasps for his phone and dials a familiar number.

“Futaba, I need you to look something up for me.”


	2. Chapter 2

The Kirijo Group has done nothing but expand these past few years under the guidance of its extremely capable Head, Kirijo Mitsuru. It was one of the most untouchable corporations, but even it was not immune to the sudden bouts of corporate espionage.

“ _What do you mean our data is compromised?_ ” Mitsuru demanded, the door to the IT room slamming open.

The techie flinched. “That is, um.”

“Explain now, or I will _fire you_ , effective _immediately_.”

The techie cowered but started talking. “I was, um, going through the u-usual maintenance and I found some alien pieces of code inside the database. I t-tried to find the trail of the intruder, but there was absolutely no trace of them that can be used to track them down.”

Mitsuru pursed her lips. “What data was compromised?”

The techie swallowed. “I’m not sure? I mean, it was in the section TT-542, but I don’t have access to that.”

Mitsuru grimaced. “Pull it up.”

The techie nodded. “Y-yes, ma’am.”

Mitsuru was handed a console that asked for a passcode and a fingerprint before the console lit up to a loading screen.

Then the Kirijo Head slammed the console down, eyes alight. “Thank you for your work.”

Mitsuru grimaced and turned abruptly, heels crisply clacking on the wooden floor.

“What the hell does this mean?”

She pulls out a phone, it rings, once, twice. The ringing stops.

“We need to talk.”

And on the broken console, several words flashed.

**[Tartarus]**

**[SEES]**

**[ _Persona_ ]**

.

.

.

.

.

.

Akira knew that his parents would have loved nothing more than to just hand him over to someone else, or wait for him to reach his majority so that he could move out. His parents had long been since divorced and he’d been left with his mother who had built a family that didn’t include him and his father. Akira had tried to be a kind child, a considerate child, and his mother’s new family had been nice enough, but he wasn’t part of their family, and he could see in their eyes that he wasn’t welcome and they were only being nice for the sake of politeness.

He’d gone home and spent dinner with his Mother’s family, the conversation stinted and awkward and he’d handed a folder of papers to his mother. They were applications to Toudai. She’d just blinked and asked,

“You think you can get in?” – _with your record?_

Akira had shrugged. They hadn’t even seen his grades, yet they already judge.

“Well, if that’s what you want.” Her eyes had narrowed, “You know you can always stay here.” _Please don’t._

Akira could read between the lines. “No. I think I’ll do well in Tokyo.”

She’d nodded and started to sign the papers.

It’s been almost a week since Elizabeth had managed to call him back to that odd Velvet Room, and the same time that Futaba was doing the searching, and there wasn’t really any progress on either of that, so Akira resigned to studying. Morgana was with Ann because sometimes he just really can’t stay quiet for the life of him and Akira’s already stressed with his exams. Morgana was more than pleased to be able to spend time with his Lady Ann.

Akira downed another cup as he tried to focus his eyes on another book with letters barely a centimeter tall. Getting into Toudai had been a bit of a challenge, even with his grades and his entrance exam results making sure that he could get into any University of his choice due to the fact that he had a record, even if said record had already been proven false. There some extra procedures that he had to undergo, but it was something that he’d long since resigned himself to. Unknowingly going against the most powerful man in Japan at the time was bound to have some effects.

Akira had honestly had no idea what he wanted to do in his life.

The Phan-site was still up and running, despite the fact that they no longer had the supernatural means of changing people. It had actually been Makoto’s idea. They had gotten too used to the lifestyle that the Metaverse had given them and they had started doing things the normal way. They became like one of those Odd-Jobs services, but they had limited themselves to things that can be solved through normal means. It was fun, and somehow felt as if it was more dangerous than traipsing through palaces with shadows that they could battle, but at least battle was straightforward and they had more than enough protection for those kinds of ‘battles’.

“Busy studying?” Sojiro asked, refilling his cup of coffee for the fifth time today. He’s probably already addicted, and no amount of caffeine would be able to satisfy him now.

Akira grins but is interrupted by a yawn. “Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.”

“You should get some sleep, you know.”

Akira shakes his head. “I’m just going to be finishing this. I only have a few chapters left.”

“You know,” Sojiro started, a smile gracing his lips as his eyes flittered over the title _Abnormal Psychology_ on one of Akira’s books. “After all you’ve been through, I didn’t think you’d choose to study law, of all things.”

Akira just smiled. “It’s something I know that I’ll be able to dedicate myself to. Plus, it’s actually a good thing on interviews. All I have to say is: ‘I was wrongfully accused before, I have experienced the hardships that come with it and I never want that to happen to anyone again.’ And the interviewers melt. I have no idea how many times I said that in different phrasings in the interviews.”

Sojiro shakes his head, amused. “I didn’t think you were this melodramatic before.”

Akira smiles mischievously. “I think drama comes with being a Phantom.”

Sojiro just sighs exasperatedly. “Of course.”

The bell of the café’s door clink-clanked and a redhead barreled inside.

“Sojirooooo~ I’m hungry. We have some curry left over, right? Gimme~” Futaba demands, voice high as she settled onto a chair by the counter.

“In a minute.” Sojiro acquiesces as he goes to the back and prepares a plate.

Futaba eats in record time and promptly drags Akira upstairs, not even giving his notes and books a second look.

 _Always so willful._ Akira thinks fondly.

“I’ll be borrowing him for a while, Sojiro.”

Once settled upstairs, on the couch, Futaba grins and lets out a smug smirk. “Hee hee. So about that request of yours.”

Akira raises a brow, crossing his legs. “Do share.”

“So you said that I was supposed to look for an Arisato Minato that was involved in Phantom Thieves level of weirdness _without even giving me a timeframe_.”

Akira sent her an apologetic look that was waved away and she continues,

“I found three people.” Futaba scrolls through her phone and recites clinically. “The first went missing eight months ago, suspicious circumstances, cellphone was left in his apartment no signs of struggle but there was a vial of blood on his nightstand (which when tested later was his), and was found two months after he went missing, stashed inside his briefcase under the cubicle where he works in. The police thinks that it’s the serial killer that they caught a few months back, Minagoroshi Fuuzou, but the MO didn’t fit, but they just wanted the populace to stop worrying and attributed it to the serial killer. There was also an odd circle drawn with blood on the wall beside his bed, which was also found to be from the victim.”

Akira nodded. It would be a good idea to tell Sae about it later. Though it didn’t feel at all like it was the right Arisato.

“The second one is a bit more normal. Not Arisato Minato though, it’s a girl. Arisato Minako. And I think this may have our fault.” Futaba winces. “This one was found inside the cradle of her little sister, eyes gouged out and muttering about arching spines, red skies and red rain.”

Akira grimaces. “Do we know how he managed to remember the fusion with Mementos? I mean, no one else but us and some of my other friends remember.”

Futaba shakes her head. “They just ruled it out as psychosis. She’s currently in the hospital, in a coma.”

“Can you set up an alert system to tell us if she wakes up?” Akira asks.

Futaba hums and began tap-tapping on her phone, and with a final flourish. “Aaaaand, done.”

“Are there any other similar occurrences?” Akira asks worriedly. “I think if there are, we need to know, so we can help.”

Futaba’s brows furrow. “I’ll get back to you on that.”

Akira nods. “And the last one?”

“This is where it gets really creepy.” Futaba says grimly. “I mean, at first I just singled out all those with the name Arisato Minato in different kanji, and this one might have _slipped_ as if his data had some protection on it, so I dug a little deeper.” She sighs. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“At the beginning, then.” Akira prompts.

Futaba gave him the evil eye. “I don’t _know_ where the beginning _is_.” She huffs. “Whatever. So. I was digging into this Arisato kid. He’s apparently an orphan when his parents dies in some car crash some years somewhen in Tatsumi Port Island. But here’s the catch. He dies via cardiac arrest in his second year of high school and his medical history doesn’t say anything about hereditary disease and he’s never even had a stroke before, and considering that he’s so young… Anyway, there was also these series of incidents around the same time. Apathy Syndrome was what the papers were calling it. Plus, he isn’t even the only one in the area who dies under mysterious circumstances.”

“I think I’ve heard of that before…” Akira hums. “Go on.”

“And guess what terms came up in my epic hacking quest on this particular dude.”

Akira tilts his head.

“ _Persona._ And _Shadows._ ”

Akira straightens. “Are you sure?”

Futaba purses her lips. “Pretty sure. This group that rules Tatsumi Port was apparently researching the phenomena of ‘the other world’ but there were lots of details that were redacted, and even electronic decryption doesn’t work on it, but I got a little bit.”

Akira nods. “Thanks Futaba.”

Futaba waves it off with a grin. “I’m going to continue my Mom’s research and this information is a gold mine. But, if you’re insisting…”

Akira laughs. “What would you want?”

“How about the latest Ultimate Ninja Battle 4?” Futaba’s eyes gleamed.

“Consider it done.” Akira promises.

Futaba whoops in victory.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Makoto barges in the coffee shop, with determination.

“Master, is Akira in?”

“He’s upstairs. With Futaba.” Sojiro points and calls. “Akira, your friend Makoto is here!”

Makoto nods. “Thank you very much.”

“Is there a problem?”

Makoto purses her lips. “I don’t know if it _is_ a problem.”

Sojiro nods. “Be careful then.”

“Of course.”

Makoto goes up the stairs and almost bumps into Futaba.

“Futaba. Good morning.” Makoto greets.

Futaba smiles. “Ah. Makoto. You here for Akira?”

“Mm. I need to tell him something.” Makoto says noncommittally.

Futaba smiles mischievously. “Of course, of course.”

Makoto doesn’t get it.

“Don’t let me keep you. Go on up.”

“Eh? Okay?”

Makoto finds Akira sprawled on the floor, notes and books scattered everywhere, glasses slightly askew, and mouth caught on a large yawn.

“You’ve been busy.”

Akira groans and fixes the perch of his glasses. “You’re the fourth person who said that to me today. What brings you here?”

“Ah, I’ve only just finished my own exams, so I can feel you there.” Makoto smiles, that gained an edge of steel. “My sister actually let something slip about something that you might want to know about. I haven’t told anyone else, yet, and if anyone is going to make a decision, I think it should be you.”

Akira sits up and looks at her pointedly. “ _Let slip_? That’s an odd turn of words. I don’t think Sae-san is that careless.”

Makoto flushed. “Um. I may or may not have been snooping in her files again.”

Akira laughs slightly. “So what is this about?”

“Ah. That is. There is someone...” Makoto hesitated and pulls out her phone. “I think there’s something I need to show you.”

Akira leans forward, interested. Makoto taps through her phone and frowns.

“Here.” She hands her phone over.

Akira takes in a sharp breath, eyes wide in surprise as he tried to memorize every single detail of that face. “Is he..?”

Makoto nods. “Yes. It’s Akechi-kun. He’s alive.”

“How?”

“I confronted Sis about it and she told me that he’d been in a coma for almost a whole year.” Makoto winces. “Then he had to go through a lot of physical rehabilitation and him and his condition was put under wraps since he had this connection with Shido that no one wanted to bring to light. Sis even said that he requested that no one was to know that he’d survived. He said he’d wanted a fresh start and none of Sis’s arguments got to him. He’s still undergoing physical rehabilitation, and Sis also said that he’s mostly recovered, but he still goes to the hospital for periodic checkups.”

Akira lets out a breath, tension draining out of him. “Even… even Sae-san’s arguments didn’t make him fold?”

Makoto shook her head. “That’s what I heard.”

Akira gives her a weak glare. “You couldn’t have waited until I finished my exams? I won’t be able to study much at this rate.”

Makoto blinks, then nods her head apologetically. “I, I hadn’t really thought of that.”

“Thank you for telling me, anyway.”

“Do we tell the others?” Makoto asks. “I mean, I we aren’t exactly victims of whatever Akechi did, like Futaba and Haru, but I think that I have already forgiven him.”

Akira closes his eyes and lets the information sink in.

Akechi was _alive._ It had haunted him for days, knowing that that brilliant and broken person would never have the chance at a normal life. That he would not be able to see one of those genuine smiles and surprisingly squawky barks of laughter that surprise both him and Akechi. That he would no longer be able to elicit those tiny ‘ah’s or embarrassed blushes from the brunet and the light café conversations that happened when Sojiro was out. Nobody but them knew. It had been a secret. A secret he had been going to bring to the grave. Until now.

“I think, we should let him decide.” Akira says slowly. “But that we aren’t going to accept the answer ‘never’ and try to make him choose.”

Makoto nods. “That seems like the best idea.”

“Do you know where he is now?” Akira asks, trying to be casual and he probably succeeds. The only person who could see through him nowadays was Morgana, and that was only because he’d been around Akira the majority of the time and had been there when Akira had only started crafting his (metaphorical) masks.

Makoto nods. “He’s at the University Hospital a few blocks away from here. I was on my way there actually, and I’d decided to bring you along.”

Akira smiles. “Thank you, Makoto.”

“You’re welcome.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basic timeline:   
> P3 <–2yrs—> P4 <–4yrs—>P5  
> 2009 – P3  
> 2011 – P4  
> 2015 – P5  
> Ages @ 2017 -> heavily rounded, and not really all that accurate, just estimations of around what age this character will be and w/o the excess months of whatever birthmonth they have.  
> 12 - Nanako  
> 17 – Futaba,   
> 18 – Akira, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, Akechi, Ken  
> 19 – Haru, Makoto   
> 21 – Kanji, Rise, Naoto,   
> 22 – Souji, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko  
> 24 – Minato, Junpei, Yukari, Fuuka  
> 25 – Akihiko, Mitsuru   
> (tell me if I got something wrong, haha. XD)
> 
> A/N: Just to make sure. The pairings listed above are final and are not at all subject to change. Haha. If you want to reach me on twitter, you can find me @AxadiaD.  It’s a fairly new account, so it’s mostly empty, but really. I NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO. 
> 
> I’ll be shuffling a lot of people and if I start forgetting someone, I think you should remind me. I have a good majority of the plot already panned out in my head, the only problem will be is ‘will I be able to write them all out in time before I lose every bit of my inspiration?’. Haha. Anyway. It’s great that this fic has received ample support! I look forward to future chapters too. I can probably update once a week if I get to my writing groove, so don’t worry. ^_^
> 
> Just a question though, If Akechi had a Palace, I wonder what would his keywords be?


End file.
